This is a guest blog post by Oracle ACE Pro Daniele Bocciolini

POUG 2025, held in Poznań, Poland, on September 5–6, confirmed itself not only as a high-level technical event, but above all as a living proof of how much a community can make a difference even in the era of artificial intelligence. After the incredible opportunity to participate as a speaker in 2022, I absolutely wanted to be there in person this year, even if only as an attendee—and the signs were already clear from the airport onwards.

That is why, for us Oracle ACEs, it is worth not only attending, but also reflecting on what POUG teaches the rest of the global community. The problem is only one: deciding whether or not to be there.

The Conference

For the 2025 edition, the event consisted of three tracks, plus an additional track dedicated to LABs spread across two days, for a total of 51 sessions. Again, the problem choosing which one to attend 😊. Fortunately, sessions are recorded, and with the conference pass, it is possible to catch up later on any sessions of interest you could not attend. There are also plenty of opportunities for community engagement: along with hospitality that includes breakfast, lunch, and beer during the conference, there’s also an evening afterparty to have fun and network. All of this was made possible thanks to the great commitment of the entire POUG team and this year’s sponsors: Oracle, MySQL, Pretius, Arrow, Abakus.

Sessions and Speakers

The full agenda of the event is available at https://poug.org/en/edycja/poug-2025/.

Here’s my personal “playlist,” hoping I haven’t forgotten anyone!

  • 23 AI – What’s new, What’s next by Connor McDonald, Oracle Architect
  • Around the world in 80 dogs: a ruff guide to the database character set by Oracle ACE Associate Patrick Jolliffe
  • A deep dive into Database I/O Operations: are they keeping up with the kernel’s pace? by Martin Bach, Senior Principal Product Manager Oracle
  • Diving into TLS/SSL for database professionals by Oracle ACE Pro Ilmar Kerm
  • DBAs in action: Real–World Oracle stories from the frontline by Oracle ACE Director Nelson Calero
  • Light speed V2: impacts of latency on cloud architectures by Andy Colvin
  • Remember, remember the 5th of September – Fucking memory problems by Oracle ACE Director Neil Chandler
  • Oh no, There’s a Hacker living in my database by Rodrigo Jorge, Distinguished Product Manager Oracle
  • When excess becomes a problem by Fernando Simon, Consulting Member of Technical Staff, Oracle
  • Using Jas-Min like a pro! DB performance profiling session by Oracle ACE Director Kamil Stawiarski and Oracle ACE Associate Radoslaw Kut
  • Path of suffering and hit pattern – CIS Benchmark and hardening for beginners by Oracle ACE Pro Axel Vom Stein
  • Write consistency internals. A technical deep dive by Christoph Lutz

POUG 2025

Why the Community Matters — Lessons from POUG

It’s not only what you learn, but how you learn. And here POUG offers the best. The extremely informal and friendly environment allows even the most introverted of introverts to feel comfortable while immersed in quality content.

Practical Sharing

It’s not just slides or theories: talks are based on real-life project experiences, with real problems, with mistakes made and corrected. This takes more effort, but teaches much better.

Peer Support & Informal Mentoring

In the moments between sessions, at coffee breaks, in discussions, you meet people who know something you don’t, and vice versa. You often don’t get the chance to ask “but how do you do that?” in an official talk, but here it happens all the time.

Community-driven Innovation

Ideas for new tools, approaches, and best practices often emerge from the ground up: one speaker proposes something, others test it, tweak it, and improve it.

Real Networking

Not just professional contacts, but building relationships that last: with other ACEs, local experts, companies, and even Oracle itself. This helps not only to grow technically, but also to find opportunities for collaboration, improve processes, and deliver more ambitious projects.

As an Oracle ACE, I feel that POUG calls us to three fundamental actions:

  1. Be present: attend, speak, share. Knowing is not enough: you also have to give. Communities grow stronger when everyone contributes with their experience, their challenges, and their solutions.
  2. Support newcomers: mentors, guides, examples. POUG shows that great value comes from those with less experience but great curiosity. Give space to newcomers, facilitate dialogue.
  3. Promote active innovation: don’t settle for “that’s how it works,” but ask “can it be done better?” POUG shows that it is possible to integrate the present with a forward-looking vision in a concrete way.

Conclusion

POUG 2025 was more than a technical event: it was a reminder that community is the invisible infrastructure that supports everything else. Whether you’re a DBA, developer, IT manager, or simply an Oracle enthusiast, don’t underestimate what it means to be part of a community. It is there that the ideas are born that change the way we work.

If you attended, tell me: what was your “a-ha” moment at the conference? If you didn’t, I hope this overview encourages you to join next time.

Oh, almost forgot—this year POUG celebrated its 10th anniversary, and for the occasion, at the end of the conference there was a very special contest about POUG’s history. The prize? A lifetime ticket to POUG.